Collaborative Research: Advancing the Dissemination of the Creative Art of Structural/Civil Engineering

美国总统办公室和美国国家工程院（NAE）最近的报告敦促美国提高科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）专业的学生留存率，并教育懂STEM的民众（即对非STEM专业的学生进行STEM教育）。缺乏启发性的入门课程、糟糕的教学以及缺乏有效的最佳实践传播是阻碍实现这些目标的主要障碍。来自普林斯顿大学、弗吉尼亚理工大学和马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的教师们正在合作开展一个名为“推进结构/土木工程创意艺术的传播”的项目，旨在通过支持传播和实施一门以研究为基础的教学方法来加强土木工程入门课程，从而克服这些障碍。目标人群包括STEM和非STEM专业的学生。本提案的主要目标是：(1)改造工程入门课程，显著提高非stem学生的互动性和可访问性；(2)确保课程采用一种易于被许多类型的高等教育机构（如本科院校、研究型大学等）的工程和通识教育课程所采用的形式；(3)促进课程在现有受众之外的传播、采用和持续改进。这些目标将通过实施四项战略来实现，其中包括进行客户发展面谈，以确定各种文化和课程在机构中采用的挑战和需要；创建由不同学科组成的课程模块（如悬索桥、塔楼、水坝等），以及一个讲座和主动学习活动的图书馆；为课程教学建立一个网站和中央信息库；并举办年度研讨会，指导想要采用这门课程的教师。我们提出了一项评估和评估计划，以衡量积极学习教学法的课程改善效果，并向其他院校推广。即将传播的课程将在强调技术内容的同时强调工程师的创造力。一个有待检验的论点是，将工程作为一门创造性的艺术来传播，是否会改变人们的观念，并提高人们对工程在社会中的作用的认识。该项目的结果有可能促进对工程师是“技术人员”而不是创造性艺术家的错误看法对STEM人员流失和吸引力的影响的认识；在不同文化和课程的机构中教授工程导论课程的挑战与成功以及支持不同机构成功采用创新课程的策略。

Recent reports from the Office of the President of the United States and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) urge the nation to increase student retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and to educate a STEM-literate populace (i.e., STEM education for non-STEM majors). Uninspiring introductory courses, poor teaching, and lack of effective dissemination of best-practices are major obstacles that stand in the way of achieving these goals. Faculty members from Princeton University, Virginia Tech and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are partnering on a project entitled "Advancing the Dissemination of the Creative Art of Structural/Civil Engineering" with the aim of overcoming these obstacles through supporting the dissemination and implementation of an introductory civil engineering course that is to be enhanced with research-based pedagogy. The target populations are both STEM and non-STEM majors.The main objectives of this proposal are to: (1) transform an introductory engineering course with dramatically improved interactivity and accessibility for non-STEM students; (2) ensure that the course takes a form that can be readily adopted into the engineering and general education curricula of many types of institutions of higher education (e.g., undergraduate institutions, research universities, etc.); and (3) facilitate dissemination, adoption, and continuous improvement of the courses beyond the audience already being reached. The objectives will be met by implementing four strategies, which include conducting customer development interviews that identify the challenges and needs for adoption in institutions of various cultures and curricula; creating course modules, comprised of different subjects (e.g. suspension bridges, towers, dams, etc.) and a library of lectures and active-learning activities; developing a website and central repository of information for teaching the course; and hosting annual workshops to mentor faculty who want to adopt the course.An assessment and evaluation plan is proposed to measure the effectiveness of the course enhancements with active learning pedagogies and dissemination into other institutions. The course to be disseminated will emphasize the creativity of the engineer along with the technical content. One thesis to be tested is if disseminating engineering as a creative art changes perceptions and increases the appreciation of engineering's role in society. The outcomes of the project hold potential to advance knowledge regarding the effect that false perceptions of engineers being "technicians" as opposed to creative artists has on STEM attrition and attraction; challenges and successes in teaching introductory engineering courses in institutions of different cultures and curricula; and strategies for supporting the successful adoption of an innovative course across diverse institutions.